I witnessed the death of a mavic (is death the right word lol) yesterday afternoon at half moon bay (California).

Winds were pretty crazy over the ocean, in fact I was a bit worried flying my P4 - but poor guy a few benches away from me couldn't get his mavic pro back. It was so damn close just before it landed in the ocean. 10FT waves and it was gone in a flash.

Do the mavics not have the same power as the P4? He just couldn't cut through the wind. It was as if it was fully tilted but going nowhere.

Poor guy had only been flying it for 2 weeks.  

I was strongly considering the mavic in the near future but this has since changed my mind. My footage generally consists of shots in windy areas. So the question is, are the mavics less powerful, or did his aircraft have an issue?

I personally switched to the P4P from the Mavic myself (after owning the mavic). The mavics number one reason for return or replacement is the gimbal weather it is a crash that knocks the fragile gimble out of place or its a factory defect. I would personally say that the Mavic is built as sturdy as the Phantom series. I had a manufacturer defect P4P so I haven't had the chance to enjoy it just yet. Waiting to get it back. Sounds like he had some settings messed up or the sensors may have been a little funny and caused it to land. I would recommend getting the drone water attachment that pops a little notifier up after so many minutes under water so you can still retrieve your drone for care refresh rather than lose the whole drone.

I chose the P4 over Mavic as I want to take it  on my fishing trips. I  need to be able to hand catch it.

Since it's a smaller and lighter aircraft, the Mavic will not perform as well in strong winds in comparison to the Phantom 4 series.

He may have had a chance if he had switched it into sports mode but being a newbie probably never practiced in this mode of flight.

That must've been very painful to watch...

My brother inlw has a mavic pro and he was getting a wind warning and my p4 wasn't even phased. Horses for courses, Decide what you want it for and buy what matches the job at hand.